Research On The Administrative Public Interest Litigation System For Minors From The Functionalist Perspective

With the need for the development of the protection of minors,China’s Law on the Protection of Minors specifically stipulates that procuratorial organs have the right to initiate administrative public interest litigation against minors against administrative entities that harm the lawful rights and interests of minors.China has set up a special Ninth Procuratorate for Minors to be responsible for the protection of minors,and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate has also promulgated Guiding Cases on Administrative Public Interest Litigation in the Field of Minors to provide guidance for procuratorial organs in handling juvenile cases.China has formed a juvenile administrative public interest litigation system with Chinese characteristics.However,while safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of minors,the juvenile administrative public interest litigation system also exposes issues such as the principled content of the provisions at the level of legal norms,the unclear judgment of the "public interest",the restriction of the exercise of the authority of the procuratorial organs,the vague exercise of the power of investigation and verification,the blockage of information between juvenile organizations and institutions,the imperfection of relevant auxiliary mechanisms,and the lack of long-term supervision mechanisms,which affect the exercise of the authority of public power organs to restrict the development of juvenile administrative public interest litigation.Functionalism was formed in the field of sociology and was gradually applied to jurisprudence.Compared with the strict control of administrative power advocated by normativism,functionalism pays more attention to the active functions of the state,and the concept of function,system and integration is its core concept.In the field of public law,functionalism tinkers with normativism to adapt to the complex and ever-changing social development.As a basic responsibility of the State,the protection of minors requires organs of state power to take the initiative to perform their duties to protect minors and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of minors.The basic concept of functionalism is in line with the purpose of the protection of minors,and there is already an application of functionalism in criminal law and administrative law in China.Therefore,this paper chooses to study the administrative public interest litigation of minors oriented by functionalism,and optimize the problems existing in the operation of the juvenile administrative public interest litigation system,with a view to promoting the steady development of the protection of minors.The essence of the juvenile administrative public interest litigation system is that the procuratorial organs exercise their legal supervision powers to supervise the administrative organs’ administration according to law.Procuratorial organs urge administrative organs to exercise administrative functions in a timely manner,and usually at the stage of pre-trial procuratorial suggestions,they can safeguard the lawful rights and interests of minors and effectively save judicial resources.In the juvenile administrative public interest litigation system,procuratorial organs promptly urge administrative organs to perform their duties in accordance with law to avoid minors suffering serious harm,which is different from previous ex post facto relief measures.The vulnerability and concealment of the rights and interests of minors require state organs to adopt special protective measures,and the introduction of functionalism in the field of minor protection can promote state organs to play an active role in improving the quality and effectiveness of minor protection.Functionalism does not deny the social legitimacy value of normativism,it recognizes functionalism on the basis of normativism,and advocates that while promoting the active functions of the state,it is also necessary to abide by the constraints of legal norms in terms of procedure.Therefore,from a functionalist perspective,the juvenile administrative public interest litigation system should be optimized from four levels: first,at the legal foundation level for the protection of minors,highlight the protection function and adhere to the functionalist concept of juvenile protection;second,standardize the operation mechanism of juvenile administrative public interest litigation procedures and ensure the exercise of legal supervision and authority of procuratorial organs;third,improve the auxiliary mechanism of juvenile administrative public interest litigation system,strengthen the linkage of executions in the field of juvenile protection,and optimize the integrated case handling model of procuratorial organs;fourth,Strengthen the establishment of supervision mechanisms with the participation of multiple subjects,strengthen procuratorial organs’ supervision of administrative organs,and at the same time mobilize the public to actively participate in the protection of minors.